Minotaurs

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This article is about the Minotaurs Space Marine Chapter. For other uses of Minotaur, see Minotaur (disambiguation).

The Minotaurs are a loyalist Space Marine Chapter with a particularly brutal reputation and mysterious ties to the High Lords of Terra.^[1b]

Minotaurs

Founding Chapter:	Unknown/Classified^[1b] (believed to be 'Chimeric')^[3b]
Founding:	M36 (Cursed) 21st Founding^[1b]
Descendants:	Unknown
Chapter Master:	Asterion Moloc^[1b]
Homeworld:	Fleet Based^[1b]
Fortress-Monastery:	Daedelos Krata^[1b]
Colours:	bronze/red
Specialty:	Shock Assault, Close Combat, Siege Warfare
Strength:	approx. full-strength^[1b] (1,000 Marines)
Battle Cry	Unknown

History

The Minotaurs are a relatively mysterious Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes, as they are principally notable for the fact that, beyond the last thousand years, most records of them appear to have been locked away under seals so tight even members of the Inquisition find them difficult to open. In addition, other records appear to have been lost or mislaid. The matter is made even more complex by the existence of historical records relating to "a" Minotaurs Astartes chapter, but whether it is the same one as that of M41 is open to conjecture. Finally, the chapter is rumoured to possess some form of direct tie to the High Lords of Terra themselves that circumvents other forms of Imperial bureaucracy completely; a rumour that has given the Ordo Hereticus some cause for concern.^[1b]

Founding

While supposedly a a product of the 'Cursed' 21^st Founding (at least a chapter called the Minotaurs are listed under this founding), a chapter listed as the Minotaurs have been recorded in action as early as M32 in the suppression of the Solar Rebellion, working along side other Astartes chapters.^[7] Fragmentary records indicate that their gene-seed was chimeric^[3b]. While they avoided the genetic mutation that occurred in other Chapters from the same Founding, they quickly achieved an unsavoury reputation for completely different reasons. For the Minotaurs were berserkers. Known for quick responses to calls upon them for aid, they were also known for ignoring command-trees and battle-plans completely and simply engaging the enemy unto their destruction. This reputation for being unreliable allies resulted in the Minotaurs being shunned by the main body Imperial. This suited the Minotaurs fine, and sometime in M38, they simply disappeared from Imperial records.^[1b]

Reappearance

The Minotaurs unexpectedly reappeared at the beginning of M41, during the Macharian Heresy. In a change from their previous disposition, they operated in concert with larger Imperial battle-plans, although still keeping to themselves. While they attempted to remain aloof from Imperial observers, no-one was able to miss the fact that they were a fully-armed and equipped Chapter who deployed a dozen Strike Cruisers during the campaign; a notable (and curious) amount of resources for a long-missing, minor Chapter. Some observers have noted that the Minotaurs respond immediately and slavishly to directives issued by the High Lords of Terra themselves, and have linked this apparent unquestioning behavior with their large amounts of high quality war materiel. However, this speculation cannot be proved.^[1b]

The Minotaurs of M41, whilst appearing more at home within the bounds of the Imperium and seemingly enjoying the patronage of the High Lords, have still managed to acquire an unsavoury reputation amongst some of their fellow Adeptus Astartes, The Ultramarines and their allied Successor Chapters in particular have refused to fight alongside the Minotaurs as a result of both Euxcine Incident (where Minotaurs' almost completely eradicated the Inceptors chapter, and took several of their relics and their flagship for their own armoury), which some saw as an over-reaction, as well as their public insulting of Marneus Calgar and the provocation given to the Genesis Chapter during the fourteenth siege of Antigonis.^[1b]

The Minotaurs entered Badab War on the side of the loyalist Imperial forces as part of the reinforcement wave that arrived in the Maelstrom Zone in 907.M41. The Minotaurs committed their entire chapter-strength to the campaign, and operated as a largely-independent raiding and harassment force for much of it. They achieved fame for their cold-blooded and merciless attacks on the Secessionists, and were considered the pre-eminent close-combat and shock-assault troops in the war until the arrival of the Carcharodons. Their most lauded achievement during the war was their complete defeat and forced surrender of the Lamenters Secessionist Chapter, which took the form of a 17 hour battle made up of vicious boarding-actions and close-quarter battles. While victorious, this battle did result in significant casualties for the Minotaurs and they spent most of the rest of the war on interdiction duties in the space-lanes, as well as carrying out punitive actions against previously rebel worlds. They were present at the end of the war in some small capacity due to their expertise in siegecraft, and at the war's end departed with several vessels of the Lamenters' fleet as prizes.^[1b]

In the closing decade of M41, the Minotaurs were extremely active, with forces of unknown strength aiding in the early stages of the retaking of Rynn's World^[5] and harrowing the excommunicated Night Reapers Chapter alongside the Red Templars and Grey Knights^[3b]. Almost immediately after the conclusion of the campaign against the Night Reapers, the entire Chapter was deployed in the Orphean War. Despite their efforts, the Orpheus Sector was formally disbanded and the Minotaurs were charged with purging it with the aid of the former Battlefleet Orpheus.^[3a]

Sometime after the formation of the Great Rift, much of the Minotaurs Gene-seed was tainted by a Death Guard invasion. They have thus begun a quest to reach Terra and pure gene-stock lest the Chapter waste away.^[10]

Chapter Timeline

M32 — Noted to have taken part in the counter-attack against the Solar Rebellion, despite the fact that this pre-dates their believed founding by several millennia.^[7]
M36 — Founded as part of the 'Cursed' 21^st Founding.^[1b]
M37 — War for the Andromax System
M38 — Disappeared from Imperial Records.^[1b]
M41
- c.053.M41 to 077.M41 - Reappeared and joined the suppression of the Macharian Heresy; the Euxcine Incident took place at some point during this time.^[1b]
- 760.M41 - The Defence of Hermetica.^[1b]
- 907-912.M41 - The Badab War.^[1b]
- 913.M41 - The Minotaurs Chapter leaves the Maelstrom Zone.^[1b]
- 989.M41-992.M41 - Reclaiming Rynn's World from Ork menace.^[5]^[6]
- 989-992.M41 - Harrowing of the Night Reapers, culminating in the Perun Cross Incident.^[3b]
- Pre-992.M41 - The Bifrost Uprising.^[3b]
- 992-995.M41 - The Orphean War.^[3a]
- 0266999.M41 - Charged with the Exterminatus of the worlds of the Orpheus Sector by decree of the High Lords of Terra.^[3a]
M42 — The 7th Plague Company of the Death Guard launches an attack on the Minotaurs Fortress-Monastery, and while defeated they nonetheless are able to taint the Chapter's gene-seed. The Minotaurs begin a desperate quest for survival to reach Terra and access purified gene-seed.^[10]

Organisation

The Minotaurs who disappeared in M38 were known as barely restrained berzerkers in battle, forgoing any combat methods that did not include melee or hand to hand. Upon reaching a combat zone, the chapter would throw themselves full force into the fight with little care for reconnaissance, intel, strategy, or causalities. Once satisfied, they would immediately withdraw all forces and leave. After the Minotaurs' reappearance in early M41, their combat doctrines apparently changed as much as their appearance. The Minotaurs showing a far greater willingness to work with the greater Imperial military structures, where as before they ignored them entirely. While still known for being merciless and relentless in combat, the Minotaurs no longer become uncontrolled berzerkers. The Minotaurs now display a preference for deploying in as few divisions as possible (full chapter strength if possible), which allows them to excel at siegecraft, as well as combating monstrous enemies with sheer weight of numbers if need be. A key tactic of the Minotaurs is to engage in attrition warfare in a confined area, willing to suffer any loss as long as they achieve victory. Since their reappearance, the Minotaurs have been shown to respond quickly and without question to missions which involve combating other Astartes, seemingly to prove themselves against fellow Astartes chapters.^[3b]

The Minotaurs appear to have no particularly distinctive organisational facets on the surface, and are only really notable for two somewhat unusual factors. The first is that they seem to prefer to operate in Chapter-strength whenever possible, and do not appear to engage in small-scale campaigns. The second is that they are supremely well-equipped and seem able to replace losses of both material and personnel with little difficulty.^[1b]

Because of this, the numbers of Minotaurs are estimated to be almost always around full-strength. They do not seem to have any difficulty in recruiting initiates, and appear to have an indoctrination and conversion process that is remarkably swift. Imperial observers during the Antigonis campaign noted that the transition from neophyte to Scout to full Marine in the Chapter was remarkably fast, and also highlighted the heavy use of hypno-indoctrination and neuro-cerebral surgery involved, as well as the monitoring and 'refreshing' of these techniques in full Marines by the Apothecaries of the Chapter.^[1b]

Hecaton Dreadnoughts

The Minotaurs are able to field an unusual number of Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts, with at least ten active during the Orphean War. These are addressed Hecaton, a word of Terran origin thought to mean "giant", "legion", or "a monster enslaved". While Space Marines are typically reverent towards Dreadnoughts, the Hecaton are treated with cold indifference.^[3b]

Armoury

From a purely technical point of view, the Minotaurs are superbly equipped with Space Marine arms and armour. Their armoury includes extensive stocks of Mk VIII and void-modified Mk III Power Armour, with sufficient access to Terminator Armour to equip the majority of their First Company, including the rare Tartaros and Arkonak patterns. In addition to large stockpiles of Vindicators and Predators, they are able to field squadrons of Storm Eagle Gunships and Spartan Assault Tanks.^[3b] Due to their tradition of taking relic wargear from Astartes chapters they have defeated, many of the relics in their armoury were taken from other chapters.^[1b]